Lauren Dary & Andrea Beça

Friends. Entrepreneurs. Takers of awkward couples portraits.

Hey pals, it's me, Andrea.

Since I've been working on our new website, I asked Lauren to write our origin story through her eyes. I was going to write my own version, too, when I realized I could totally just chime in on hers. Look at me, being all efficient.

Without further ado, here's how That's So Maven! came to be:

Lauren: I met Andrea while I was working on my first personal project as a photographer. I was seeking the advice of a good friend who was a colleague of Andrea's at the time. He introduced us and said she might be interested in participating in the project. When she agreed, I was thrilled!

Andrea: I was thrilled too. Then I thought, "Oh my good god - what have I done?" (You'll see why in a second...)

Lauren: I got good vibes from Andrea the second I met her. She has a calm, cool presence about her. It's intriguing.

Andrea: I liked Lauren right away too. Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to the photo shoot. (Also, Lauren clearly doesn't know me well enough yet - I'm so not cool.)

Lauren: Our friendship got real fast, because the photo shoots for the project were of participants in their underwear.

Andrea: THERE IT IS.

Lauren: What a good sport, getting half naked in front of an (almost) complete stranger. I knew we would form a friendship because I love ballsy chicks, and it takes big cojones to do that!

Andrea: A year after it happened, I'm still nervous about it.

Lauren: Also, Andrea will always be extra special to me because I found out I was pregnant with my second son only 30 minutes before she arrived for her photo shoot. KISMET!

Andrea: I don't remember if I learned any special news that day because I was too busy being in my underwear in front of an (almost) stranger.

Lauren: I had been dreaming of starting a podcast for many months but couldn't quite lock down that "great idea" and I knew I wanted to share the experience with someone else. That's when the little light bulb turned on inside my head and I texted Andrea to see if she had any interest in collaborating. When she responded that she had been thinking about starting one for a while and that she definitely wanted to get together to discuss... KISMET!

Andrea: It's true - I, too, had been hemming and hawing about a podcast for ages. I couldn't think of a subject I wanted to cover. For some reason, as soon as Lauren approached me about it, I was struck with the idea: female entrepreneurs. Total kismet.

Lauren Dary is a professional photographer based out of Edmonton, Alberta. She is the owner and photographer behind L Photography. Her focus is on lifestyle photography, capturing the beauty and purity in life's every day moments. Motherhood, families, boudoir, fitness - really anything important in one's life. Lauren loves the sense of community that Edmonton exudes. She has worked with numerous charities and organizations, donating her time and expertise to various events. In her own words, "It's all about collaboration over competition. Edmonton gets that and really is a great place to own a business."

Personally, she is happily married to her "roommate," Neal. Together they have two beautiful boys, Oscar and Dominic, and a squirrelly Boston Terrier named Beans. Lauren enjoys alternative rock, slow jams, Instagram, powerlifting and wine. All the wine. Also, her love of offensive language keeps her parents cringing after all these years. Oh, Shit! Lauren likes to take risks and could be described as overly-ambitious, even though she equally loves laying in bed binge watching TV shows for hours on end. Her loved ones like to describe her as "predictably unpredictable."

Andrea Beça is a freelance writer, editor (of words and video), filmmaker, and social media strategist from Edmonton, Alberta. She has a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alberta and an MLitt in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow. In addition to her "day job" through Andrea Beça Work, she runs an indie film company called Kissing Habit Films, and she teaches Zumba classes. In her own words, "I know that last branch of my career seems random, but I promise once you meet me, it'll make perfect sense."

Personally, Andrea is a proud mama to her own squirrelly Boston Terrier, Lucille Ball Beça, and a newly adopted Pug mix, Hettie Jones Beça, and she's a sometimes mama to her mom's Chihuahua, Finnegan Fox Beça. (That was a confusing sentence.) She knows WAY MORE Beastie Boys lyrics than you would ever expect and wishes she could sing just like Tom Waits. When she's not working, you can usually find Andrea out on a dog walk, drinking chai at Remedy, or on some sort of adventure with friends.